Subterranean life in the groundwaters of northern Australia https://www.csiro.au/en/news/All/Articles/2025/June/Stygofauna
"#Stygofauna are creatures specifically adapted to life in underground aquatic habitats... Often dwelling in darkness, many have lost their eyes and have developed a range of unique features to thrive in these environments, frequently low in nutrients and oxygen... They contribute water purification and nutrient cycling within aquifers, which directly impact the quality and availability of our resources."
Groundwater ecology was one of the topics I was strongly considering to specialize in...
It is just *so* awesome what happens in these dark and completely overlooked ecosystems below our feet!
And thanks for pointing out the functions of these creatures!
Here, a nice introductory book, for if someone wants to nerd deeper:
"Groundwater ecology and evolution: an introduction" by Florian Malard, Christian Griebler and Sylvie Rétaux
Why the long face? 🤭
Scorpionflies have very long chewing mouthparts in proportion to their heads. Look at that snout!
Female Scorpionfly
A number of years ago, I had the privilege of visiting the Great Mosque of Córdoba. There was something about the hypostyle forest of marble columns and the endless repetition of double-tiered, red and white arches, that I found simply stunning. A millennium-old architectural masterpiece, which is as imposing, peaceful, and humbling today as the day it was built.
When capable scientists become government advisors, they're confronted with the realities of political power equations.
That is when they are confronted with situations where facts count for little if the conclusions don't have political support in the constellations of power.
"Politics isn't mathematics", as the then German minister of the environment Schulze famously once said when asked about my calculations of a fair remaining CO2 budget for Germany (since used up for 1.5C).
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